


Tending The Flame

by AHS



Series: Inviting The Fire [2]
Category: Actor RPF, Queer as Folk (US) RPF
Genre: AU, Kidfic, M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-18
Updated: 2009-01-18
Packaged: 2017-10-19 12:18:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHS/pseuds/AHS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel ficlet to ITF. Gale/Randy and the new addition to their life, set in Dec. 2003.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tending The Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I made this up.
> 
> Do I need to warn for committed lovin'? ;)

  


~December 2003~

  


“…mmph… fuck…”

“…ohh God… Gale…… mmm…”

“…your mouth, damn…”

“…more… mmph mm…”

“…finger?…”

“…yes…… unnhh…”

“…fuck, missed this…”

“…need to…”

 _*WAAAAAAHHHH*_

“Shit!”

“No, no, no, don’t stop!”

“Well… _*pant*_ … you know she’s not gonna stop.”

“Our little air raid siren… I’m the one who should be crying. I am _so_ painfully hard right now.”

“I know. Me, too.”

“ _*sigh*_ Hand me my shorts.”

“Bring her in here.”

“After I’ve changed her, I’m guessing?”

“Hey, it’s your turn.”

“Okay. But she’s not sleeping in here. We are finishing what we started, mister.”

“My dick concurs.”

“I bet… _It’s okay, sweetie! I’m coming!_ … Just not how I would have liked.”

*****

“She amazes me. She doesn’t even wind up, you know? No little whimpers, leading into crying. Just suddenly screams full blast.”

“Drama princess. She’s your daughter, all right.”

Six-month-old Bryni Harrison Harold lay on Gale’s chest, quieted now, tiny wisps of her blonde hair blowing as he breathed. Randy gently rubbed the pudding-soft skin of her arm.

It only took about a year together for Gale and Randy to surprise themselves by talking about becoming parents. After another year, and a new picture in the mail of their old colleague Holly’s baby daughter, just turned two, they looked at each other and simply said, _“Let’s do it.”_

Which they did, of course… they fucked to celebrate… but _that_ wasn’t going to get them a kid, SO… They originally thought of adoption, but soon realized the process could take years for any couple, and undoubtedly longer for two men. That’s when the possibility of surrogacy came up. In this case, finding a woman willing to be impregnated with their sperm, and after the birth, give the baby to them to raise. They worried how complicated things could get, say if the mother changed her mind… Randy was convinced their lives would become a made-for-TV movie… and they met with several candidates before they found her.

“Did you see? Jo sent us a postcard from… where the fuck… Mongolia, I think. Remembered to wish us a merry Christmas, even though I’m pretty sure they don’t have Christmas in Mongolia.”

“Maybe she’ll send us some barbeque.”

Jo was a pretty redhead in her early 30’s, straightforward and self-deprecating. She’d laughed at herself, explaining how she had selfishly always wanted to have a child, just so that her DNA would carry on, but how she had also always known that she did not want to be a mother. Add to that, her brother was gay, and while he had no interest in being a dad, she was thrilled to help guys who did. She lived about an hour out of the city, but planned to travel the world after the pregnancy, which was something being their surrogate would give her the funds to do. She promised to send postcards from all the places she visited, asking only for the occasional baby picture in return.

Gale and Randy’s sperm got to mix and swim about and go on the egg hunt together. It really didn’t matter to them who the biological father was, though they knew they would need to find out at some point, for reasons of medical history. But they had a pretty good guess once their daughter was born and those blue eyes and that pale fuzz on her head… which would probably turn strawberry with time… were made known. Gale had thought he might be disappointed, but he found he loved looking at her and seeing Randy….

  


 _“Doesn’t mean anything, you know.”_

 _“What are you talking about?”_

 _“Her eyes. All babies’ eyes look blue until they’re like six or seven months old. I read that on the baby site. They could turn hazel.”_

 _“Trust me, Rand. Those eyes are only going to get bluer.”_

 _“Is that… good or bad?”_

 _“Fucking awesome. It’s my favorite color.”_

  


Holly had already named her daughter Sara… a nod to the Serendipity Theatre… so Randy and Gale named their little girl something even more personal… Bryni, which means “flame”… after the song and the moment that sealed the deal for them.

“Rand, what are you-?”

“What?”

“You can’t jerk me off while I’m holding the baby.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re working on it. I- I don’t want her… around that.”

“She’s asleep. And it’s not like I’m attempting to complete our 69... which we left off at about thirty-four and a half.”

“Shhh!”

“I am not corrupting our daughter! She can’t underst-” Randy sighed and shook his head, moving his hand from Bryni’s arm to Gale’s side, strumming his ribcage. “Everyone thinks you’re so laid-back. You’re going to be one of those crazy overprotective dads, aren’t you?”

Gale started to argue the point, then glanced down at his little angel… and couldn’t. “Yeah, I think so.”

Randy grinned, quickly but carefully straddling his man and leaning down over their oblivious infant. “Good.” Kissing… “It’s hot.”

*****

“She didn’t wake up when you put her down?”

“Nope. She’s out.”

“So, we’re free to resume…?”

“Fuck that. Just fuck me.”

A groan, a tumble to the bed, tongues down throats…

*RRRRING*

“What the fuck??”

“Just let it ring. Let the machine get it… mmm…”

*BEEP* _“Are you two fucking right now? You are, aren’t you? Give it a rest! You’re parents now! Parents don’t fuck. God knows mine didn’t. Which is why I am happily never having kids!”_

“Go away, Dylan.”

 _“Hmm, I’m going to guess that… Gale is the bottom boy today! Take it like a man, babe! And if I’m right, you have to call me back.”_

“How does she always know?”

“I don’t know, but it’s creepy.”

 _“Sooner rather than later, please. Before your post-fuck smoke… Oh, fuck! You guys gave up smoking for the rugrat, didn’t you? Screw you both, then. I don’t even want to tell you about the part I just got… on a big cable show… and how I’m making out with chiiiicks…”_

That made them stop for a second.

“Does she mean for the part?”

“Who knows?”

 _“Anyway, give the tiny gorgeous one a kiss for me. There may be a tiny-gorgeous-one-sized Ferrari on the way. She can sit up now, right? Merry early Christmas. Ciao, bitches.”_ *CLICK*

Randy and Gale laughed a little around kisses.

“Unique girl.”

“No shit.”

If you’d told them two years ago they would be friends with Dylan today, they probably wouldn’t have believed it. They ended things with her on civil enough terms, but most definitely ended. Then, when Bryni was born, for some reason, Gale decided to send Dylan an announcement. Regardless of fate’s greater involvement, she had been kind of inadvertently responsible for getting Randy and him together. Rather than take it as a slap in the face, as Randy thought she would, she responded by sending a complete wardrobe of designer baby clothes. They called to thank her and soon found out… the weirdness of their past out of the way… she was a fun friend to have…

  


 _“It’s really too much, Dylan, but… thanks.”_

 _“Consider it a symbol of my having forgiven you.”_

 _“Uhh… say again?”_

 _“I’m really hurt that you didn’t ask me to have your baby for you.”_

 _“……uh…”_

 _“I’m fucking KIDDING, Gale! Good God. Did Randy fuck your brains out, literally??”_

  


That pretty much broke the ice.

She was still living in LA, and she’d finally started to move beyond infomercials and land a good role or two. Maybe her big break would come in the form of this cable show… that may or may not involve kissing girls. They couldn’t be a hundred percent sure she was speaking professionally, because, well… _unique girl_.

After Dylan’s breakup with Travis, and one too many casting couch come-ons from old, fat men ( _“Why are they never young and hot??”_ ), she even tried… briefly… being a lesbian. But it didn’t last long…

 _“A girl with a strap-on? Hot once or twice, but… why not just go for real cock? Because women are more sensitive? Please. They’re fucking nuts, is what they are. And I am more woman than most, so, there you go. Two of us together? Bad idea. Baaad.”_

Fuck. Thoughts of lesbianism were threatening to make Randy go soft, and weren’t exactly doing much for Gale in this moment, either. So, they found the natural segue from Dylan back to what they’d been trying, needing so desperately to do.

“Think about the first time,” Gale whispered, stroking Randy.

“Which one?” Randy smiled, biting his lip a little at the sensation. “The very first time, or _your_ first time, or our first alone time…?”

“Run with all those thoughts. I’m right there with you…”

The baby monitor stayed silent, and the phone didn’t ring. And the two horny dads fucking made the most of it until they passed out from well-earned exhaustion.

*****

“This is such a beautiful picture, Gale.”

“Thanks, Mrs. H.”

Randy’s mom reached up and patted Gale’s cheek. She loved her son’s partner for many reasons… his abundant love for her son, his genuineness, his colorful phraseology (though he adorably tried to limit it in her presence), and the fact that he made her feel like the Mrs. Cunningham to his Fonzie, to name a few. They connected on an artistic level as well, and she thought his photographs, professional and personal, to be exquisite.

Randy glanced up at the wall, at the framed black and white photo of Bryni, sleeping. While he ran around behind the much more active, real-life version. “As long as he doesn’t put her on a giant flower petal or start dressing her up as a pea pod… anything like that,” he teased.

“Not really my style.” Gale gave a look of comical disdain and pinched Randy’s side as he passed.

What was his style was dressing her up in a baby-sized black leather motorcycle jacket for their Christmas card. Wouldn’t you know, she loved it, crying and waving her stubborn little fists when they tried to take it off of her.

Randy’s mom had cleverly turned it into a stuffed leather teddy bear. Inciting her son to make all sorts of “leather bear” jokes, but no matter. Her granddaughter slept with it every night.

“Your dad fawns and chuckles over the card every time he opens the fridge.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “Speaking of, it’s time for me to go. Flight’s soon. I need to get back to him.”

“It’s been so good to have you here for a couple of days, but I hate that he threw his back out and had to stay home. Tell him I said it’s a sign that maybe he should let the Christmas spirit linger a bit? Rather than try to physically _throw_ out the tree come the 26th.”

“I’ll tell him, but he may be whining too much to hear me,” she clucked, affectionately. “Bryn, honey, Gramma has to say bye-bye. Come give me a big hug and kiss.”

A tiny red Ferrari came to a sudden stop. “Gama!” She lifted up her arms. “Dada, Gama!”

Randy picked her up and placed her on the floor. “You want to crawl to her?”

“Oh, has she started crawling?” Mrs. Harrison asked excitedly.

“Sort of.”

Gale put a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve got to see her determined face. It’s cute as hell. She looks just like… that one.” He nodded his head at Randy and grinned.

Bryni braced herself on her little hands and knees… shifted her weight, trying to propel forward… rocked back and forth a few times… before those blue eyes squinted fiercely, her mouth smushed in, and she took off crawling.

“She pulls her lips in like… _that_ one,” Randy whispered to his mother, winking towards Gale. “I love it.”

She made it about two and a half feet before flattening out and landing on her tummy. But her grandma had surreptitiously moved to meet her, and Bryni smiled proudly at having made it the whole way.

Randy’s mom picked her up, gushed, covered her in hugs and kisses. And once the baby had been reluctantly handed over, she did the same to Randy and Gale (well, not the picking up part). She lightly ran her fingers over the Lalique crystal that was her son’s Drama Desk award for about the fiftieth time on her way to the door. Randy smiled, waving Bryni’s chubby fingers at her.

“Pa!”

“He’s coming back,” Randy assured, happily watching Gale’s ass as he carried out his mom’s luggage.

Life was good.

*****

“You didn’t tell your mom about your interview.”

Next morning, in bed, Gale poked Randy’s tummy.

“Yes, I did. You heard her. She went on about it for an hour. Promised to buy copies for everyone in the family, all her friends.”

Randy was doing quite well in the theatre, having won his first award… for an off-Broadway featured performance… in May, and starting a new Broadway show in a few weeks. He’d recently been interviewed by _The New Yorker_ for a small piece.

“I mean about the interviewer guy who was hot for your bod.”

“I never said that! I just said he was a little… flirty.”

“Mm hmm. Not very professional, is it?”

“You know I only even mentioned it because I love when you’re jealous, right? Besides, as soon as I showed him a picture of us and Bryn, he stopped.”

“I should fucking hope so.”

“Come here…”

“Turn the phone off. No interruptions.”

“Oh, did you talk to Dylan? What’s the big secret?”

“Girl got herself a part on some new lesbian drama on Showtime.”

“Really? That’s great. But… you think it’ll go? That queer show didn’t last long.”

“I told you, that’s because we weren’t on it.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Besides, don’t you know? Women together, hot. Men together… yuck.”

“Oh yeah?” Randy kissed Gale. “Are you disgusted?”

“Hmm…” Gale looked thoughtful and pulled Randy on top of him. “Not sure yet. Try again.”

Randy kissed him deeper, playfully bit his lower lip, and took his cock in hand. “How about now?”

“Uhh… not disgusted… Maybe a little dirty.” He laughed at Randy’s stuck-out tongue and grabbed his ass. “In a good way.”

“Good.” Randy rested his chin on Gale’s chest. “Because, really… it’s kind of funny.”

“What?”

“Just… how we started… which was, well… pretty dirty.”

Gale wanted to debate that for a second. Regardless of threesomes and meeting up primarily for sexual gratification in the beginning, there had always been something so pure between them. But he knew what Randy meant. He let his eyes glaze over in exaggerated remembrance.

 _“Yeaahhh.”_ A sharp tug to his armpit hair made him yelp and then laugh more. “What’s your point, Rand?”

“Now we’re so…”

“So…?”

“Domestic?”

“You did not just say that.”

“I _love_ our life, but you’ve got to admit… it’s funny.”

“You think we’re not _dirty_ anymore? The raunch… the filth is gone?”

“Shut up.”

“The heat… the _raw_ …?”

“No… we have that. More than ever.”

“Fuck yeah, we do.”

Spreading and sliding in slow and a glorious lack of condoms…

*RRRRING*

“What the _FUCK?!_ ”

“No, no, _no_ …”

“I thought you turned off the-”

“Shit, I just turned off my cell phone.”

*BEEP* _“Gale, this is your mother. Just calling to wish you a blessed new year… you and…… everyone.”_

“‘Everyone’… Hey, that’s me!” Randy put his hand to his heart, faux-touched. “Aww, she loves me now.”

 _“I hope I got the baby’s clothes in a big enough size. Let me know. Oh, and the card was… very nice. Thank you.”_

“You know she cut me off the side, don’t you?”

 _“Be well.”_ *CLICK*

“……”

“……”

“I wish she wouldn’t gush like that. Makes me uncomfortable,” Gale sighed, deadpan.

Randy coughed out a laugh, reaching up to touch Gale’s face. “So, she’s not a gusher. It was a nice call. And she did send those presents for Bryni.”

“I know. Just… she won’t call Bryn her granddaughter. Just ‘the baby.’”

“And maybe if Bryn had come out looking a little more like you, that would be different. I don’t know. But… considering how much we scared her when we told her she was on the way, I think your mom’s doing pretty well…”

  


 _“Mom, I have some news… We have news… Yes, me and Randy… Yeah, I understand how you might not be sure you want to hear it, and maybe you don’t… But it’s good news. Fucking amazing… Sorry, didn’t mean to say ‘fu-’… Ahh shit…”_

 _*grabbing phone, rescuing partner*_

 _“Mrs. Harold, I told you Gale was going to give me a baby. Well, all his hard work finally paid off! We’re pregnant!…… Hello?”_

  


“Good point.”

“I could have said, “ _I’m_ pregnant.’ Really, I was good.”

“You’re fucking amazing. Happy almost 2004.”

“Happy almost 2004.” Lips celebrated. “We’re going to Marci’s party, right?”

“Yeah, we promised to bring Bryn. But I still vote for cutting out before midnight.”

“The whole point of a New Year’s party is the midnight countdown, Gale.”

“I don’t care. I want at midnight what I want all year and the rest of my life… Just us. My family. Home.”

Randy swallowed the emotion swelling in his throat. “…I could be persuaded to that line of thinking.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Maybe continuing what was so tragically interrupted?”

“Now?” Gale teased, gripping hips and pushing in as soon as the word was spoken. Randy moaned.

“Now. Midnight. Forever.”

A ragged, playful breath. “You and me. Forever dirty.”

“Ohhh… that’s a promise.”


End file.
